


Love in the Cards

by ATLPanther



Category: Power Rangers Megaforce
Genre: F/F, Fluff and Smut, Masturbation, Mutual Pining, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-02
Updated: 2019-01-02
Packaged: 2019-10-03 00:25:11
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17273627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ATLPanther/pseuds/ATLPanther
Summary: Gia is balancing pining for Emma and her job as the MegaForce Yellow Ranger. Can a monster attack help her to find the courage to reveal her feelings?





	Love in the Cards

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Griddlebone](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Griddlebone/gifts).



Gia returned home after a hard day. School had been mostly tolerable, but what had really taken its toll on her was her work with the MegaForce Rangers. It was another day of fighting Loogers, monsters, and giant robot battles. She was just exhausted, but knew that she hadn’t finished all of her duties for the day. 

With a sigh she opened her bedroom door, dropped off her book bag, and resigned herself to the practical realities of dinner and homework. Thankfully her family was out, so she was able to just grab some leftovers from the fridge and return to her room to dedicate some time toward her studies. 

After a while she noticed a text message on her phone. Rolling her eyes, she braced herself from the inevitable deluge of text messages from Jake, but mixed in with those was one from Emma. At this, she smiled. Emma was a bright spot on some of the more miserable days. Gia was quite taken with her Pink Ranger teammate. Emma was sweet and intelligent and kind and always there to lend a helping hand or offer a smile. 

Emma was suggesting she come over later to work on a project for Mr. Burley’s science class. Gia was more than happy to accept. It was an environmental science project which Emma was extremely passionate about, and Gia just enjoyed any opportunity to be close to Emma. She fired off a text affirming her desire to meet up in an hour, then the appropriate parental clearances were confirmed over text for Emma to stay the night. 

With that decided, Gia was finished with her homework for the time being, which allowed some much needed time to relax. She laid on her bed, trying to listen to music while reading a novel. While the book was in front of her, she wasn’t really focused on it or the music in the background. Her mind was full of thoughts of Emma. 

When she closed her eyes, all she could see in her mind’s eye was Emma. She imagined running her fingers through Emma’s long dark hair, staring into her beautiful brown eyes, kissing her perfectly pink lips, feeling her body in her arms. Gia had been smitten by Emma from the day they’d met. 

Carrying the secret inside was killing Gia, but there didn’t appear to be much recourse for the time being. She certainly didn’t want to make things awkward on the overall team with the other Rangers. The team dynamics were already bad enough with Jake pestering her constantly for a date. She thought about a conversation she’d had with Emma just a few days ago. 

They’d been in the woods together, on their own for once. Gia and Emma decided to do some independent training. Emma felt that she wasn’t as strong a fighter as some of the other members of the team. Even after meeting Casey the Jungle Fury Red Ranger and being assured that she was an integral part of the group, she still felt insecure about her fighting abilities. Gia was pleased to indulge her in her request for further training. 

The weather could not have been more perfect that day. The sky was a beautiful azure blue, the sun beat down on them but not oppressively so. The trees were a verdant green, with birds singing melodiously overhead. They went to the clearing the MegaForce Rangers usually frequented for training. It was far enough away from town and from the road to be secluded and allow for some measure of privacy. Today Emma wanted to spar unmorphed. They stretched together first, and then did a few short sprints for a warmup. 

After sufficiently warming up, they both got into their fighting stances opposite each other. Emma was the first to strike. She aimed a punch right for Gia’s face. Gia averted the punch with her arm, and then ducked to go for a leg sweep. Emma dodged this with a backflip, and then came after Gia again with another punch. Gia rolled away from Emma to avoid the punch. 

They continued like this, attacking and counter attacking each other. It finally ended when Emma grabbed Gia’s arm in an attempt to flip her. Gia was able to reverse this and get behind Emma and put her in an arm hold. Emma tried to get out of it, but ultimately tripped, bringing them both to the ground with Gia on top of her. 

They collapsed there on the grass, trying to catch their breath. Gia was very aware that she was tantalizingly close to Emma. Her mind screamed at her to pull away and right herself, but her heart was pounding even harder now. She could smell Emma’s perfume and her shampoo and her body felt amazing under hers. Emma hadn’t moved away either. 

Gia wasn’t sure if that was because Emma was stunned or if she was enjoying this closeness too. She looked down into Emma’s eyes to see if she’d find an answer there. Emma’s eyes were locked on hers. She wasn’t sure if she should escalate things further or if she should pull away and stop herself. Emma ended Gia’s indecision for her. 

“I guess we’ll call that a draw,” Emma said with a smile. 

“Oh...uh...yeah. Right. Here, let me help you up,” Gia stammered, getting to her feet. She extended her hand to Emma. Emma took her hand and pulled herself up. Gia tried not to focus on how right it felt to hold Emma’s hand. 

“Thanks,” Emma said, while still holding Gia’s hand. 

“So uh...I guess we’d better head back, huh?” Gia asked. Her heart was skipping so many beats she thought she’d die. Emma’s face was flushed, her cheeks pink, her hair mussed. It would be so easy to pull her close and kiss her. It took all of her self-control not to do just that. 

“Yeah, it’s getting late,” Emma replied. She left her hand right where it was, in Gia’s.  
Neither of them made any move towards leaving the clearing, nor away from each other. Their eyes locked again, and Gia could feel herself blushing. 

“Your...technique has gotten a lot better,” Gia said, finally breaking the silence. 

“You think so? Thanks, Gia!” Emma replied, smiling even more brightly. “I’ve been practicing. Casey gave me some moves to use for training, and obviously fighting the Armada has given me more opportunity to practice, too.”

“Well it definitely shows,” Gia said approvingly. 

“I guess we’d better gather our stuff and go,” Emma said, looking around and checking her watch. 

Gia thought she might have heard a note of reluctance in Emma’s voice, but that also could have been wishful thinking on her part. They stopped holding hands long enough to grab their water and towels and make their exit, saying nothing. Gia’s mind was running rampant at what had just happened. 

“Hey, Gia?” Emma softly asked. 

“What’s up?” Gia replied. 

“Do you...do you really not like Jake?” Emma suddenly asked. 

“What?!” Gia exclaimed. 

“I’m serious. Do you really not like him?” Emma stopped walking to turn and face Gia again and look into her eyes. 

“I mean...I like him as a friend. He’s a nice guy. But I’m not into him at all otherwise, if that’s what you’re asking,” Gia admitted. 

“Why don’t you like him?” Emma demanded. 

Gia was caught off guard by this line of questioning. It was so unlike her to be caught out flat footed in a conversation like this. 

“He’s...just not my type?” Gia said, trying to deflect from further questioning. She knew she planned to tell Emma the truth about her feelings one day, but she hadn’t planned on it being today. 

“Bullshit,” Emma said with a smirk. “There’s another reason and you’re not telling me.” 

“Well...I like someone else,” Gia confessed. 

“I knew it!” Emma said triumphantly. “Is it someone I know?” 

“I...uh...wow! Look at the time!” Gia said, her face beet red. 

“Ok, fine, I’ll let you off the hook this time,” Emma teased, “But you gotta tell me who it is you like at some point, ok?” 

“Sure!” Gia replied, her stomach in knots. “One day I’ll tell you all about it.” She forced herself to smile at Emma then, after which they ultimately left the clearing and went their separate ways home. 

Thinking about it now, Gia’s mind focused on how it felt when Emma’s body was beneath hers. It had felt like the most natural thing in the world. 

“What if I would have kissed her then?” Gia asked herself before she allowed herself to envision it. She imagined gently kissing Emma’s lips and idly wondered how her lip gloss might taste. She decided to further indulge the fantasy and imagine touching Emma’s face as they kissed. 

“Her cheeks are probably really soft,” Gia thought to herself. She then imagined tracing Emma’s jawline and neck with her fingertip. In her mind’s eye, Emma’s body pleasurably squirmed beneath hers. Just the thought of it made Gia’s pulse quicken. She tried to get her mind focused back on the book or on the music she was listening to, but it was impossible. All she could think of now was Emma and how it had felt to be so close to her. She rested her head against the pillow, taking a glance at the clock. 

“Emma won’t be here for a while yet. Maybe I should get this out of my system?” Gia reasoned to herself, not that she really needed an excuse. 

She stood up to unbutton and unzip her jeans and removed her panties before she lay back on the bed. She closed her eyes and conjured up an image of Emma beside her, naked. At the thought her breath quickened and she began to rub her clit. She pictured herself sucking Emma’s nipples and then kissing her way down Emma’s torso to her pussy. The vision in her mind was so clear that she could almost hear Emma’s moans. 

Gia rubbed her clit harder, sliding a finger in and out of her wet depths. In her mind, Emma’s legs were spread for her. She was tonguing her clit and feeling Emma buck against her in pleasure. When she was imagining Emma’s orgasm, she felt her own real orgasm bubble up. She whispered Emma’s name over and over again as she came. 

In the post orgasmic glow, she allowed herself to catch her breath for a few minutes. The images of Emma began to fade, but it had felt so real. 

“Am I ever gonna get to touch her like that?” Gia wondered to herself. She took a glance at the clock and saw she wouldn’t be able to ponder on that idea for too long, since Emma would be arriving soon. She hurriedly cleaned herself up and got dressed to prepare. 

Just as Gia was setting herself back to rights, Emma knocked on the front door. Gia hustled to open it and allow her friend inside the house. Emma was clearly prepared for and excited about this environmental science project. She’d brought several large books, her laptop, and some research papers she’d printed out. 

“Wow, here, let me help you,” Gia said, reaching out to help Emma carry the stuff up the stairs. 

“Thanks! Guess I went a little overboard,” Emma said with a smile. “But I just got so excited doing the research for this! We can start to test the water quality around Harwood County!”

“Sure, that sounds great. What exactly does that entail?” Gia asked, carrying the books to her room and placing them on her desk. 

“We’ll get a few kits, and go to some of the waterways around town. We’ll test for stuff like pH, turbidity, nitrates, and other factors that will tell us about the condition of the water around us. If we do it for a couple days, we’ll have enough research done for the project!” Emma triumphantly explained 

“I’m game for that,” Gia replied with a smile. “Thanks for doing all this research.” 

“Don’t mention it. You know this is my calling,” Emma said, “So, can you help me out with my math homework?” 

With that the two girls spent time going over trigonometry. After a couple hours, with the work finished, Emma looked up at the clock. 

“Oh, man, it’s getting late,” Emma said. 

“Good thing you’re crashing here,” Gia replied, starting to put away her textbooks. 

“Yeah, no kidding,” Emma answered with a yawn. “Is it ok if I go ahead and get ready for bed? I’m already half asleep!” Gia nodded in the affirmative, and Emma headed off to get ready for bed and change into her pajamas. 

Gia watched her go, suddenly nervous. It was getting increasingly difficult to share a bed with Emma these days. Her attraction to Emma had only gotten stronger over time, and Emma was seemingly blithely unaware of this. Gia shook her head and tried to regain her self control. 

“C’mon, it’s your best friend. This means nothing,” Gia told herself. She took a few deep breaths to clear her mind. 

The attempt to clear her mind was immediately undone by Emma’s return to the room. She’d changed into her PJs, which consisted of a thin pink t-shirt with a pair of white shorts. Her dark hair hung loose about her face, her legs on full display, and it was obvious she wasn’t wearing a bra. Gia struggled to tear her eyes away from her friend and head into the bathroom to get into her own sleepwear. As Gia was brushing her teeth, she took the opportunity to try to collect herself. 

“Dude, don’t be creepy. She’s your friend and she’s staying the night with you. Chill the fuck out!” Gia admonished herself. Still, it was hard to erase the image from her mind. She changed into her own yellow flannel bottoms and t-shirt, still trying to calm herself down. Apparently she’d been gone some time because Emma called out to her. 

“Hey, Gia! You ok?” Emma asked. 

“Oh yeah, I’m fine. Be right there!” Gia responded, hoping she sounded as relaxed as she was attempting to be. 

She finished with her nightly routine, and then headed back into the bedroom. Emma was already under the covers on the right side of the bed. Gia turned off the light and slipped in beside her on the left side. She was keen to keep her hands at her sides so that she wouldn’t do anything untoward. She tried to put out of mind the fact that Emma was right beside her, close enough to touch, breathing the same air. Suddenly Emma turned towards her. 

“So...you gonna tell me who it is you like?” Emma teasingly asked. 

“What?” Gia exclaimed, even more flummoxed now. 

“You can’t hold out on me forever, y’know,” Emma replied. Gia could hear the grin in her voice. “I’m just gonna start guessing one of these days.” 

“You might be surprised,” Gia replied cryptically. 

“A surprise, huh?” Emma said thoughtfully. “I might have an idea.” 

“Oh?” Gia said, trying and failing to sound dispassionate. 

“It’s definitely someone on our team,” Emma said confidently. 

“Er...well...yes,” Gia reluctantly conceded. It was hard to lie to Emma. 

“Is it...Orion?” Emma guessed. 

“Orion?! No way. He’s a cool guy, though,” Gia answered with a laugh. “And much better with the makeover, too. You did a great job.” 

“Well I try to mold imperfect lumps of clay,” Emma said mischievously. “So it’s not Orion, eh? Hm...one more guess tonight.” 

“Shoot,” Gia said reluctantly. 

“Is it...Noah?” Emma asked. 

“Noah?!” At this Gia laughed uproariously. “Are you serious?” 

“Well, you said I’d be surprised! And I would definitely be surprised if it were Noah.” Emma said, joining Gia in her laughter. Even in the dark, Gia knew that Emma looked beautiful right then. She always looked beautiful, but she was devastatingly so when she laughed and smiled. It never failed to melt her heart every time. 

Unthinking, Gia turned over to face Emma directly. In the darkness she was able to make out Emma’s face and her infectious smile. At that moment, Gia knew she’d do anything to keep that smile on Emma’s face. Suddenly Emma reached over to hug Gia. Gia returned her hug, bewildered. 

“You’re my best friend, Gia. I hope you know that,” Emma whispered. 

“You’re my best friend too, Emma,” Gia replied, returning her hug. 

Gia felt Emma’s hands encircling her waist. Despite herself, she felt herself melting into the embrace. She felt Emma pulling her closer. They were now face to face, eye to eye. 

“I don’t know what I’d do if you weren’t in my life, Gia,” Emma said seriously. Gia felt the weight of her gaze right then. 

“I’m not planning on going anywhere, Emma,” Gia replied earnestly. 

“Good,” Emma said, hugging her tightly again. Gia returned the hug, bewildered anew. 

“Where’s this coming from?” Gia asked. 

“Just wanted to make sure,” Emma said, squeezing Gia. Gia’s head swam at how close she was to Emma at that moment. She could smell Emma’s shampoo and perfume again. It was intoxicating. She closed her eyes so that she could concentrate on her scent and conjure it again later. To Gia’s surprise, Emma never pulled away from her. She fell asleep with Gia in her arms. Gia was wracked with indecision. 

“Should I pull away? Should I turn away from her? Should I keep holding her?” Gia’s mind weighed the options. She had longed so ardently to hold Emma and be held by her like this that she decided to just give into those feelings and fell asleep with Emma in her arms and she in Emma’s. It just felt right. 

The next morning Gia’s alarm went off. Gia’s sleep-clouded mind was dimly aware of a very pleasant weight around her waist and a very warm and soft entity next to her. Slowly the realization about last night’s events dawned on her. She was still in Emma’s arms. 

The obnoxious alarm was still sounding, so she reluctantly went to shut it off. Emma began to stir awake and start to get out of bed. Gia was slightly disappointed by this as she was hoping that she’d be able to slip back into bed next to Emma and hold her again. That was clearly out of the question now as Emma was already up and gathering her clothes for the school day. 

“Hey, did you sleep well?” Emma casually asked, starting to stack her books to pack up. 

“Yeah, did you?” Gia replied, turning away from her to start to do the same. 

“Best sleep I’ve had in a long time,” Emma replied thoughtfully. Gia looked up from the bookbag she was packing to cock an eyebrow at her friend. She was about to ask her about that when Emma looked up at the clock. 

“Hey, don’t you need to jump in the shower real quick?” Emma asked. 

Gia was suddenly aware of the time. “Shit, you’re right. I’ll be quick so you can get a shower in, too.” 

She made her way to the bathroom with all that she’d need to get dressed and complete her morning routine as quickly as possible. 

“It’d be nice if we could have taken a shower together,” she smirked to herself as she jumped into the tub. Last night’s events swam through her mind again. She wasn’t sure what (if anything) it meant. She decided to put it aside for the time being and just focus on getting dressed for the school day. 

When she did, Emma followed suit and came back to Gia’s bedroom where Gia was finishing packing up for both of them. 

“Thanks, Gia!” Emma said. “You’re the best. Do we have time to eat something for breakfast?” 

Gia checked her watch. “Yeah, there should be some cereal downstairs.” 

“Great! I’m starving. Let’s go!” Emma picked up her bookbag and waited for Gia to grab hers before taking Gia’s hand and leading her downstairs. 

Gia dutifully followed Emma downstairs, once again surprised. 

“We spent the whole night cuddling and now this? What’s all this about?” Gia asked herself as she grabbed the cereal box and a couple bowls. Emma helped herself to a generous portion of the box contents as Gia returned with spoons and soy milk for Emma and dairy milk for herself. 

“You know me so well,” Emma smiled at Gia and poured herself the soy milk. 

Gia considered asking further questions about what all this meant, but she glanced at the clock and realized they’d have just enough time to eat and get to school on time. She decided to table the conversation for later. They finished up breakfast, put the dishes in the sink, and headed off to school. The school day itself was uneventful, and all the Rangers met up in the hallway once classes ended. 

“Gosei doesn’t need to meet with us after class and I don’t have a meeting with the Science Club. Why don’t we walk to Ernie’s?”, Noah suggested. This sounded great to everyone, so they set off on their journey, chatting all the while. They passed by the local church on their way, and Orion spotted something of interest.

“What is that?” Orion asked, pointing at a recently married couple in a wedding procession.

“It’s a wedding!” Emma gushed. She was about to explain further, but was interrupted by an attack from a monster named Desolar. Desolar pointed a staff at the bride and seemed to drain her of her happiness energy. In a flash, the MegaForce Rangers got the civilians to safety and then morphed to attack him. 

They tried to spread out into a formation to prevent Desolar from escaping, but he managed to elude them. Emma in particular was scandalized by this monster attack. Attacking the park or the juice bar was one thing, attacking a wedding was another. At her insistence the team initiated SuperMega Mode. Even with this power up, they were unsuccessful. To their surprise, the monster grew giant sized using a dial on his belt. 

Troy summoned the Sky Ship for the Ultimate Legendary Megazord and Orion summoned the QRex Megazord to even the odds. With the megazords deployed, they all sought to end the fight as quickly as possible. They tried to use the Mystic Force Mystic Spell Seal, but then Desolar used his belt to shrink himself to a microscopic size. He snuck onto the QRex Megazord and attacked Orion, briefly knocking him out. 

He then seized control of the zord and used it to attack the other Rangers on the Ultimate Legendary Megazord. They used Ultimate Starburst, which jarred Orion back to consciousness. He was able to get Desolar to leave his zord, but he also warned the other Rangers about the monster’s treachery. At this point, Desolar made his way onto the Ultimate Legendary Megazord and lead the rest of the team on an interesting chase outside the cockpit and then throughout the megazord. 

Eventually he made his way into Jake’s suit at a microscopic size. This lead to all the others hitting Jake to try to defeat the monster. Gia took not a small measure of delight in being given free reign to punch Jake a little harder than was entirely necessary, but thankfully the helmet prevented everyone from seeing she was smirking about it. 

Thinking quickly, Emma ran over to grab the coolant from the toolbox nearby. She sprayed the back of Jake’s suit, causing Desolar to escape. He blasted a hole through the megazord to get out, causing some significant damage. Troy suggested Noah take the lead on making the necessary repairs. With Noah’s supervision and the blueprints Tensou provided, the work was underway. This left Emma and Orion to deal with the monster. 

As she began working, Gia worried about how Emma and Orion would fare on their own. She wasn’t concerned about their fighting abilities, but Desolar had proven to be a tricky opponent. It was hard not to second guess the idea of sending along a third person just in case another Ranger would help, but she also knew that repairing the megazord as quickly as possible was equally important. She decided to focus on the repairs and hope that she and the others could get to Orion and Emma quickly should they need backup. 

“I have an idea!” Emma exclaimed, turning to Orion. “You wanna get married?” she asked. 

“What?” Orion asked, befuddled. 

Gia chuckled as Emma dragged Orion away for what would clearly be an eventful afternoon for them both. She continued assisting Noah with the repairs as they waited for an alert from Emma or Orion. After about 30 minutes of work, Orion sent a message to Troy. He explained that Emma’s crazy idea to draw out the monster involved him in a tux, Emma in a wedding dress, and a fake wedding. 

“Uh…guys?”, Orion asked, “is this really ok?” He was a nervous wreck, which amused the others. 

“Oh it’s fine, alright”, Troy teased. 

“Make sure Emma looks happy!” Gia replied mischievously. 

“Ok, uh...how do I do that?” Orion asked, at a loss.

“Just give her a kiss!” Gia answered, causing her, Troy, and Jake to die laughing at Orion’s haplessness. 

Not only was this a great plan to lure out the monster, but it was fun, too. Gia knew she’d have to get details about how this wedding of the century was going, but she also found herself feeling a pang of jealousy. This was clearly a fake wedding, and yet Gia felt compelled to still have been involved. She shook her head to clear her thoughts. 

“C,mon, Gia. Focus! We gotta fix the Megazord! And this doesn't mean anything to Emma...right?”, she thought to herself. Her mind was flooded with doubts. She hoped this wouldn’t veer too far off the path of being a fake wedding. As ridiculous as it was, she wished that she had been the one to participate in the fake wedding shenanigans with Emma. 

“Surely Emma is just doing this to lure out the monster. She doesn’t like Orion that way”, Gia mentally chided herself. It didn’t fully assuage her doubts, but it worked well enough to allow her to regain focus on the task at hand. She continued helping the other Rangers to make the repairs. 

Thanks to Tensou’s tools and Noah’s technical skills they managed to make progress very quickly. Once they were done, the rest of the team tracked Emma and Orion down and found them at the park. They showed up just in time to see Emma destroying Desolar’s staff. Once again, Gia was both proud of and impressed by Emma. Emma told the team that she had something to take care of, and sent everyone else to follow Desolar to the old factory. They all morphed and left Emma to her devices. 

At the factory, Desolar was still proving to be a formidable foe despite the team being in SuperMega Mode. 

“Let’s tap into our legendary prehistoric powers!” Troy ordered. He, Gia, Noah, Jake and Orion then accessed the Dino Thunder powers. As Emma arrived to meet up with the team, Orion used the last of his Legendary Powers to tap into Gold Mode and the rest of the Rangers used the SuperMega Saber Blast to finish him off until he grew to a giant size again. 

The megazords were summoned again. Before they could initiate combat, Gosei informed them that because they had mastered the use of the Dino Thunder powers, they could now combine with Orion’s QRex Megazord. This they did, and with the added teamwork they finally put Desolar down for good. 

They went to the command center for a debrief, and agreed to meet up later in the park for a picnic. Emma was the last to arrive, so Orion began regaling the rest of the team with stories of Emma’s exploits, complete with pictures. He explained how she used multiple disguises to lure the monster out to take her happiness. Gia enjoyed seeing Emma as a cheerleader, bride, and police officer. She looked so beautiful in all the outfits, she knew she’d struggle to pick a favorite. 

“Hey, guys, what are you all looking at?” Emma asked when she arrived with the blanket and picnic basket. She glanced at Orion’s phone before exclaiming “Oh no! You were taking pictures the whole time?!” 

“Don’t be embarrassed! You should be proud!” Gia smiled at her reassuringly. 

“She’s right. You did a great job, Emma. Thanks for taking the lead today”, Troy said approvingly. 

Eventually, the Rangers all set out to teach Orion how to fly a kite, as Emma explained he’d been fascinated by one earlier during the mission. Before they caught up to the rest of the team, Gia pulled Emma aside. 

“Em, you’re amazing. You always know just what to do to make everyone happy” Gia said, before joining the others. Emma used her WindDrive ability to give Orion more wind for his kite’s maiden voyage. It was a fun to spend an evening with everyone, and for once Jake managed to not make things awkward with a proposal for a date. 

Eventually, the rest of the team headed off to other activities. Noah accompanied Orion to his ship, Troy went to Ernie’s with Jake, leaving Gia and Emma alone again. The two girls set about picking up the remnants of the picnic. As she set to packing things up, Gia’s mind was preoccupied with thoughts of Emma and recent events. She still found herself feeling uneasy about how Emma might feel about Orion, and whether she might like him as more than a friend. 

“Maybe I should just ask her about it?”, Gia pondered. That would certainly be the most direct course of action. Gia didn’t quite know how to begin that conversation, and she was nervous about what she might find out. 

“If she does like Orion, then that would settle it”, Gia decided. “She’s my best friend, so I would just...find a way to deal with it, I guess. Her happiness means the world to me.” Gia continued silently struggling with what exactly she wanted to ask Emma, and her thoughtfulness didn’t escape Emma’s notice. 

“Gia, what’s on your mind?”, she asked. 

“Huh? Oh...uh...this and that”, Gia replied as she finished putting the dishes in the basket. 

“Thinking about your crush?”, Emma teased. 

“I...er...yes. I mean, no. I mean…” Gia was suddenly tongue tied while also wondering if this would give her an opening to ask Emma about Orion. 

“I knew it!” Emma exclaimed triumphantly. “You really shouldn’t bother to lie to me, you always have a tell.” 

“I do?” Gia asked. 

“Yeah” Emma said, sitting on the picnic blanket and inviting Gia to sit beside her. “You always purse your lips when you’re thinking hard about something.” She then imitated Gia’s pursed expression. 

“Hey, knock it off!” Gia said with a laugh before beginning to tickle Emma.

Emma began to laugh her infectious laugh, causing Gia to laugh in turn. Gia knew she’d never get sick of hearing Emma’s laughter, so she continued tickling Emma. She wound up on top of Emma again, tickling her sides as Emma squirmed beneath her and laughed harder and louder. 

Gia eventually stopped tickling Emma, taking a moment to look down at her as she caught her breath. Emma’s face was flushed and she’d laughed so hard she’d begun to cry a bit. Without thinking, Gia reached down to wipe a tear away from Emma’s face. Emma looked up into Gia’s eyes. 

She didn’t know what came over her, but Gia leaned down and gently kissed Emma’s lips. She didn't even think about it. By the time she realized what she’d done it had already happened. Gia wasn’t sure if this would be both the first and last time she would get to kiss her like this, so she just decided to enjoy the sensations. 

Kissing Emma was exhilarating after having spent so many months wondering what it might be like and how it might feel. Gia’s brain was screaming at her to pull away and apologize, so she reluctantly broke the kiss. She backed away from Emma slightly and looked into her eyes again, hoping to get an idea of how Emma was feeling about what just happened. Gia wanted to say something but she really didn’t have a clue what to say right then. 

“Emma...I…”, Gia began and then faltered. 

Emma then interrupted Gia by leaning up to return Gia’s kiss. This kiss was longer and deeper, and Gia was pleasantly surprised. Gia put her hands on Emma’s hips as they kissed. Emma wrapped her arms around Gia. This felt so right and Gia wished she’d never have to stop kissing Emma. Suddenly, Emma ended the kiss and gently pushed Gia away. They looked into each other’s eyes, silently regarding each other and catching their breath. 

“I guess I got an answer to my question about who you like.” Emma grinned mischievously. 

“Yeah, I guess you did.” Gia replied, blushing. “But now I have a million questions.” 

“Really?”, Emma asked. “I thought I was being so obvious.” 

“What do you mean?”, Gia cocked an eyebrow at her. 

“Oh c’mon,” Emma said, exasperated. “We went to go see a ‘rare flower’ together. We took pictures that were supposed to be ‘just for us’. I cuddled with you all last night. We held hands. Literally the only thing I didn’t do was figure out how to put my WindDrive, TwistTornado, and CompreThunder cards together and write your name across the sky.” She shook her head in mock disapproval and grinned. 

“Well you know now that I have a RockCrush on you” Gia teased. Emma groaned at the terrible joke, but pulled Gia into another quick kiss. 

“You seriously had no idea that I like you?”, Emma asked. 

“I certainly hoped you did,” Gia began, “but I wasn’t sure. And I didn’t want to assume anything or pull a Jake and be creepy. I never wanted to hurt you. Plus...what about Orion?” 

“Orion?! Are you serious?!” Now it was Emma’s turn to laugh at the idea of an absurd crush. “He’s a great friend, but I don’t like him that way.” 

Gia continued to press her on this. “Then why did you do the fake wedding with him?” 

“I figured it would be the easiest way to stop the monster. Besides, you were busy fixing the Megazord” Emma said. 

“Really?” Gia asked, hopefully. 

“Really. If I could have, I’d have asked you to go with me. Plus, you’re nothing like Jake,” Emma replied. “You’ve always been really sweet and respectful. I wouldn’t care about you so much otherwise.” She tucked a stray strand of hair behind Gia’s ear and lightly stroked her cheek. 

Gia leaned down to kiss Emma again. They continued kissing, holding each other closely. After a while, Gia slowly pulled away from Emma to look down at her again. They both were unable to stop grinning at each other. 

“What happens now?” Emma asked. 

”Depends on the answer to my next question,” Gia replied, before getting up and stretching a hand out to Emma to help her up. “But c’mon, let’s finish packing up first.” She and Emma then set to packing up the last of their picnic. Once they were finished, they both began to walk out of the park. 

As they headed towards the exit, Emma stopped and turned to face Gia. “So what was your question?” 

“What are you doing after school tomorrow?” Gia asked. 

“Well, I thought we’d start our water quality testing, but I’m not doing anything after that”, Emma replied. 

Gia gulped before she asked, “I was wondering if afterward you’d like to...go on a date?”

Emma grinned. “I’d love to.” 

Gia took Emma’s hand. “Great!” she said, not bothering to disguise her relieved smile. Emma squeezed her hand and they both left the park excited about the prospects ahead.


End file.
